Bath of Fire
by Schtolteheim Reinbach III
Summary: Aurikku songfic! 8D Takes place after the game, so let's just say that Auron's still thinking of someone who's very far away now.


This is a songfic to "Bath of Fire" by the Presidents of the U.S.A., and it's AURIKKU! 8D Does anything else I can say about this fic even matter now? I DIDN'T THINK SO! What more do you need to know? _AURIKKU!_

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_I let my thirsty boots wander all over   
And they come home with lies about women_

Auron spent the last year after finding final rest wandering around the Farplane, going wherever he felt like going. It didn't much matter where he went, because the Farplane was all the same except for the people. It had been fun being with Braska and Jecht and everything, but he missed having female companionship (because he was NOT GAY). 

_And in the evening, toe up to the stars   
Sun is comin' up and somethin's feelin' funky_

Lying beneath a tree in the marshy area where he'd spent the night, he found that as the sun came up, illuminating the green leaves of the trees against golden light, his thoughts were wandering to silky golden locks and green eyes. Strange, weird, grassy green orbs that were almost hypnotizing, with the small, subtle spirals at the center... 

Auron shook his head and sighed longingly. After such thoughts, it was a surprise that he'd ended up here in the Farplane, and not... somewhere else. 

_Old moldy Korn klub stuck in the mud, it makes me   
Wish for a million dollar view_

A few kids with nearly shaved heads and multiple piercings wandered by through the marsh, and it reminded him of Brother. _Her_ brother. He remembered so clearly how it had felt when they'd gone into battle together against that dragon monster at Bevelle, with her calling orders to her father and brother, shouting through the clouds that rushed past them. He was old enough to be her father. The thought made his throat suddenly feel dry. 

_Spend my last lone quarter on the Korn klub's kool aid, and   
There's nothin' else I'd rather do_

"Hey mister, you want some kool aid?" one of the punk kids asked him as they passed by, and he nodded as he accepted the offer, handing the boy a coin in exchange for the small box. His sake had long run out, and there was no clean water to be found here. 

After shaking it, Auron sipped deeply through the straw. The sweet taste of artificial cherry reminded him of her too, and that brought to mind something else... He put it out of his mind quickly, for even if he could have done something about it now, he wouldn't have. 

_There's nothin' like a bath of fire   
To get this deep down dirt outta me   
There's nothin' like a bath of fire   
To get this deep down dirt outta me_

He was a dirty old man, he thought with a longing sigh. He deserved to end up somewhere other than this peaceful Farplane. 

Perhaps peaceful isn't the proper word, he realized suddenly when he noticed that he was sharing his makeshift bed with a gigantic serpent. The punk kids must have startled it, but now it was staring straight into his eyes as its head drew back and its mouth opened... 

_Razor fanged rattlesnake only tryin' to protect itself   
I had to haul off and blow it's little head away_

Boom! 

The sudden explosion startled him even more than the snake, for he hadn't even had the time to pull his sword from the ground beside him when the snake's head exploded in a gory mess, splattering his vermillion coat. 

He looked up in alarm, and found himself looking into exactly the same sparkling emerald orbs he spent all his nights thinking about despite his best efforts. 

"Hi!" she said brightly, dangling the pin from the grenade between her right thumb and index finger. 

_Sucked out the venom, kept the little skin and   
Meat found its way onto my plate_

Shortly thereafter, they were sharing breakfast, which they'd made of what was left of the snake. "How are you here?" he asked her. 

"I killed myself!" she exclaimed merrily, clutching his hand between hers. "Oh, Aurnie - life just wasn't the same without you! But now that I'm here with you, we can spend eternity together!" 

"What!" Auron rose to his feet, staring down at the girl in alarm. "Your life had only just started! How could you do such a thing? Don't you know that it's a sin?" 

"But here I am, right?" she said, her lip beginning to quiver a little, because this was not the greeting she'd expected. "Aurnie, you told me if things had been different..." 

"But they're not!" he shouted at her. "And if we... if we spent eternity together now," he began, more gently in his awkwardness, for he'd never readily talked about this part of it before, "suicide would not be your only sin. You are far too young for someone like me..." 

_There go my boots complainin', tell me it's time to go stompin'   
I'd better listen or they'll kick my ass_

Picking up his sword and his sake jug, he stood to move on. "It's better that I go now, before we find ourselves worse than dead." 

"Oh, Aurnie, don't say that!" She leapt up to stand in his path and clapped a hand over his mouth. "Do you mean to tell me you believe all that superstitious nonsense, after what we saw firsthand about Bevelle?" 

"I've been here for awhile," he said tiredly, murmuring against her hand stubbornly. "I know more about how things work after death than any Bevelle maester or Al Bhed. And I'm warning you..." 

Before he could finish, her hand fell away from his lips, and her mouth rose to take its place. He couldn't find the strength to pull away, and before long he was engulfed in a raging desire unlike any he'd ever felt before. 

But then, as one hand raised to caress her small youthful breasts, the ground fell out from beneath them. 

_Hell is down there yawnin', hopin' I fall head first in it_

Rikku screamed and clung to Auron's waist as they fell for what seemed like forever. There was no hard landing, though, and when she pulled her head out from where she'd hidden it in the folds of his coat, she saw they were surrounded by flames. Looking up at him anxiously, his one eye lowered to meet hers ominously. "I told you." 

_Nothing like a bath of fire   
To get this deep down dirt out of me_

"Oh no!" she wailed. "Are we condemned now?" 

"I'm afraid so," Auron said gravely, stroking her hair gently. "We will be purified by fire, until these sins of ours have been erased." 

"Then we'll be here forever," Rikku swore, "because I could never let go of my feelings for you!" 

_Nothing like a bath of fire   
To get this deep down dirt out of me_

Auron considered her words, and the earnest look in her eyes. Finally he nodded. "I'm not sure any fire could burn away what love we two hold in our hearts," he said softly, bending to kiss her. 

She threw her arms around him gratefully, crying into his strong muscular shoulder. "We _will_ spend eternity together, won't we, Aurnie?" 

_Nothing like a bath of fire   
To get this deep down dirt out of me_

He showed his agreement with another passionate kiss amidst the heat of the flames. "Forever." 


End file.
